| River Isle | |
|---|---|
 River Isle atIsle Brewers | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| County | Somerset |
| Region | Somerset Levels |
| Cities | Isle Brewers,Ilminster,Knowle St Giles,Chard, Somerset |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Combe St Nicholas,Somerset,England |
| • coordinates | 50°55′10″N2°56′23″W / 50.91944°N 2.93972°W /50.91944; -2.93972 |
| Mouth | River Parrett |
• location | Somerset,England |
• coordinates | 51°00′32″N2°49′55″W / 51.00889°N 2.83194°W /51.00889; -2.83194 |
| Length | 14 mi (23 km) |
TheRiver Isle (also known as theRiver Ile) flows from its source nearCombe St Nicholas, throughSomerset, England and discharges into theRiver Parrett south ofLangport nearMidelney.
Several small springs merge into the river nearWadeford it then flows north pastDonyatt,Ilminster,Puckington, andIsle Abbotts, before joining the Parrett. The first section of the river falls 250 feet (76 m) in 6 miles (9.7 km) and then falls less steeply falling 80 feet (24 m) during the subsequent 8 miles (13 km).[1] As a result, several mills were built on the upper reaches of the river. At least one mill was in existence at the time of theDomesday Book in 1086. These mills were an important part of the local economy connecting with the wool trade.[2]
The road bridge over the river atKnowle St Giles is a Grade IIlisted building.[3]
A lock was built at the junction with the River Parrett, to maintain water levels, when theWestport Canal was built in the 1830s. The canal joins the river approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) before the confluence with the Parrett.[4]
Chard Reservoir was built by damming the river in the 1840s to provide water for theChard Canal.[5]
Near Ilton and Puckington, the Isle is joined by Cad Brook. The name of this stream is first attested in a thirteenth-century copy of a perhaps tenth-century forgery of acharter purporting to date from 725,[6] asCaducburne. The name is attested again in the fifteenth century asCadde. The second element of this name is anOld English word meaning "stream", the origin of the first element is less certain. In 1928,Eilert Ekwall guessed thatCaduc was adiminutive form of apersonal nameCada, thus meaning "Caduc's stream".[7] By 1936 he had concluded that the name included a rare Old English word forjackdaw,cadac, in which case the river name meant "jackdaw stream".[8]Andrew Breeze has more recently suggested thatcaduc was actually aBrittonic name for the stream, adopted into Old English withburn as an explanatory addition, related to the Modern Welsh wordcaddug ("mist, gloom, darkness").[9]
The stream gave its name to the hamlet ofCad Green.[9] By the 1920s, the stream itself seems to have been called the Ding,[7] but recent maps showCad Brook, suggesting that Cad Green has in turn given its name back to the stream from which it was named.[citation needed]
